Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Banks v. Credit Unions, Visualized - Is It Time to Make the Switch?

I continue to be sick (this virus I have is being irritatingly persistent), so I'm reserving most of my higher-order brain functions for getting my actual work done. But, I did come across this interesting infographic, via Daily Infographic, that spells out many of the key differences (and benefits/drawbacks) between banks and credit unions, so I thought I'd throw up a quick post.

[Disclaimer: I am a member of a couple of credit unions myself, though I also remain a customer of a couple big banks and a couple of smaller banks. So, I've yet to make the big switch permanently. Would anyone who has like to share his/her experiences in the comments?]

What I found most interesting is that credit unions tend to charge lower interest rates for loans (and pay slightly higher interest rates on deposits) than big banks, except for mortgages - though the requirements for getting a mortgage from a credit union are often lower than from a bank. Check out the rest of the differences for yourself:

It hasn't lost my money since 1978, hasn't charged me for ATM use or Visa card. Made me a mortgage loan or two, some automobile loans, hasn't treated me like a dummy and stuck with me when I needed it and helped me pay everything back. In short, all the stuff the banks didn't do.

About This Blog

I am one of the largely nameless, faceless bureaucrats who work tirelessly (and largely thanklessly) to help ensure that poor people don't go hungry - and a billion other tasks government bureaucrats do that no one notices until something stops working. Living and working in DC is making me angry - and I vent my anger as thoughtfully as I can. Well, OK, maybe I'm not terribly angry ... but I thought it was a good name for a blog. If you're also a bureaucrat, or angry, or thoughtful, I'm happy to entertain guest posts.